Psalm 86:10-11 - For you are great and do marvelous deeds; you alone are God.
Teach me your way, LORD, that I may rely on your faithfulness; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name. “For you are great and do marvelous deeds. You alone are God.”
That is an incredibly powerful statement: “You alone are God.” Think about that. As it has been said, “There is a God, and you are not He.”
“You alone are God. Teach me…” (because You alone are God) “teach me your way, O Lord that I may rely on your faithfulness and give me an undivided heart that I may fear your name.” When we learn His ways, we rely all the more on His faithfulness because HE IS GOD!
For some time, I’ve been experiencing a growing desire in my heart – a shift in the way in which I fellowship with Him. In moments of transparency, I am able to recognize and confess that I have spent years, probably most of my Christian journey, being as obedient as I know how to be and doing what the Scriptures teach. Being obedient to the Word is obviously the right thing to do. However, I’ve become aware that in some respects I have learned how to be a good Pharisee. I have kept the Law or the customs of our Christian community, but I long for intimacy at a deeper level in my fellowship with God. This realization has been an eye opener for me.
I’m mindful of the scripture written in Psalm 103:7 - “The Lord showed his ways unto Moses and His acts to the children of Israel.”
For too long, I have sought more for the acts than I have the ways of God. Both the acts and ways of God are needed in a healthy Christian life. When we know His ways, we understand His acts.
I believe that we are living in a critical time that requires leaders to understand the ways of God.
I do not think that God is withholding things from us as much as He is holding things for us. He is wise and very careful about whom He shares “His ways” with. He looks for the man or woman, as he always has, whose heart is set on Him and then he tests and proves them. He is searching the hearts of men for integrity, men who have undivided hearts. The end result of spending time your heart set on him? You will be one “that fear (s) His name.”
We cannot be in the presence of God without experiencing the fear of God. Being in awe of His majesty, His authority and power to do whatever He wills.
In John’s Gospel, Jesus makes similar statements regarding His relationship with his Father. He says, ‘I only do that which I see my Father do.’ Or ‘I only speak those things that I hear spoken to me.’ God is looking for leaders who lead that kind of relationship and life; People who find life in the ways of God. A cry from our hearts and a God pleasing pursuit for all of us would be: ‘I want to know your ways… teach me your ways that I may know you. And give me an undivided heart that I may fear your name. For you alone are God!”
We live with divided hearts most of the time. The struggle for all of us is being in a place where God has firm ownership of everything we are and everything we possess.
More than ever, I desire to live life like that of a servant of God, and more importantly, like a child of God. I’m begging God, “show me what it means to know your ways. I don’t want to know only what you do, I really want to know why you think what you think and say what you say. I want to be the child who follows you around and observes and imitates everything you do and say.”
I have a video that occasionally plays in my mind as I meditate on knowing God. Imagine a sealed throne room in heaven with walls, lined with windows, and in that throne room the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit are present…. talking, planning, discussing. Imagine being able to somehow get hold of that windowsill and pull yourself up, and watch…and press your ear against the glass to listen to the conversation. Much like what happened to Isaiah in chapter six. He overheard God’s heavenly conversation. His response was one of humility and brokenness as he recognized his shortcoming in the presence of The Holy God. Yet, in earnest, he made the statement… here am I… send me! God’s presence had revealed the real Isaiah and God’s power brought cleansing to his lips to speak His oracles. Isaiah’s heart was now undivided, priorities were sorted out and he was ready to be used for eternal purposes. The wonderful news is that we do not have to hold onto windowsills and strain to hear God. As children of God, we have been given total access to the throne of God where eternal things await our arrival so that we may implement them in our generation. The King’s scepter has been extended to you and me to be in His presence, to know His ways, and to participate in His acts.
No amount of time spent doing things in the Kingdom make up for the lack of time spent with the King!
Give me an undivided heart, that I may know your ways so that I may fear your name!
Amen.
